Titanic artifacts bring history to Richmond
> BY TAMMY KWAN
The RMS Titanic was the largest ship ever built at the time of its maiden voyage, which began on April 10, 1912, sailing from Southampton, England, to New York City. We all know the tragic yet fascinating story of the doomed liner—it never reached its destination, and claimed more than 1,500 lives after it hit an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
One hundred and six years later, the Titanic is still generating conversation and curiosity among people around the world. Big-budget films and countless books have kept the public interest in the liner at a high, but it’s the real-life stories of those who were onboard that make the ship’s legacy a perpetually intriguing topic.
The Titanic carried some of the wealthiest individuals in the world, many of whom perished in the disaster. But there were also less affluent passengers who were seeking to start a new life in the U.S., and workers who were trying to make it onto a connecting voyage in the Americas.
These nonfictional passenger tales are illustrated by more than 120 recovered artifacts on display in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, now on view at Richmond’s Lipont Art Centre (4211 No. 3 Road, Richmond).
Produced by Premier Exhibitions, the attraction has travelled to over 100 countries and has already been seen by more than 25 million people. The company is headquartered in Vancouver, and according to its executive chairman, president, and CEO, Daoping Bao, it took a lot of effort, money, and time to finally bring the show to our city.
“The artifacts are from four kilometres below water, and we have over 5,600 pieces of artifacts,” Bao tells the Straight in an interview. “What we see here are real artifacts and real stories. This is the opportunity for Vancouver to see it.”
Visitors will be able to take a look at what life was like onboard the ill-fated ship, beginning when they get their hands on a replica boarding pass. From there, they’ll walk past a model of the grand staircase, learn about first-class and third-class cabins through room re-creations, and view some of the objects (including a gold bracelet, a diamond ring, and perfume bottles) retrieved from the seabed.
Some of these items have a Canadian connection, which Alexandra Klingelhofer, the vice-president of collections at Premier Exhibitions, explains is deliberate.
“We try to tell the same story throughout all of our exhibitions, [but] I try to bring things that relate to the area,” Klingelhofer tells the Straight. “I enhance the basic story line of artifacts with things I think might be interesting for the people in the Vancouver, Richmond area. I’ve included a number of pieces of Canadian currency, some trolley tickets from Toronto, and a postcard from a small Canadian town that was sent to one of the passengers onboard.”
There’s even one exhibit that visitors can physically interact with: the iceberg. You can touch a large chunk of ice—a freezing -2 ° Celsius— to feel how cold it would have been for Titanic passengers the night that the great ship sank.
“It’s a fascinating tale of hardship and disaster,” Darryl Davis, chief operating officer at Premier Exhibitions, points out. “It’s educational and entertaining, and it’s an experience that everybody can enjoy.”